March 2, 1998, I reported, promptly at 9:00 am for my first day of work with my current company. I was 30 years olb, the single mother of 3, recently divorced entering the corporate workforce for the first time.

My assignment was as a technical service specialist for a computer call center. I had some knowledge of troubleshooting PC problems, though most of my experience was on a Mac. None of my family or friends really expected that I'd make it a year.

By my 2nd year, I was a part-time instructor in Microsoft applications, and a subject matter expert for MS Office Suite. I was also the goto for all questions concerning graphics.

In my 6th year here, I became the training coordinator for 3 accounts. When those contracts ended, in my 8th year, I became the Knowledge Admin for the entire center, responsible for making sure that all of the support documentation in our databases was accurate, easily accessable, readable, followable, and linked to any and all accurate additional information, without going outside of the contractual agreements of with the clients. I have held that position for the past 5 years.

I've had a good run.

But all good things must come to an end. I will walk out the doors of my office, the afternoon of June 30, 2011, and officially end my run here, or anywhere. July 1, 2011, I start my "medical retirement."

Oddly, I don't feel upset about it. I'm a little concerned about money issues because I will be "retired" before my inheritance comes in, but other than that, I feel calm about it. There is a strange sort of peaceful feeling, knowing the date when things will change. I'm going to miss a lot of the people here. Friendships have been made over the last 13 years, naturally. But otherwise, I am ok with this, even though it could be argued that the choice of when to retire was taken out of my hands. I don't really seem to mind.

I've had a good run.